Girls Aloud - Metro Arena, Newcastle - 21st February (Live Review)
Friday, 22 February 2013
Written by Lara Rainsforth
Tonight was the night that all fans, including me, have been waiting for since Girls Aloud announced their 'Ten' Tour.
It's been three years since Cheryl, Kimberley, Sarah, Nicola and Nadine decided to take a break from the band to pursue solo projects. However, the minute the lights were dimmed and the curtains dropped, it was like the girls had never been away as Cheryl said it herself - they couldn't have kicked started the tour anywhere else but Newcastle.
The band were slowly lowered to the stage on giant letters spelling out GIRLS ALOUD, to the 'Sound Of The Underground' filling the packed out Arena. 'No Good Advice' was next up with the girls joined on stage by dancers. It was nice to see the girls singing along when it wasn't their line and also just genuinely looking like they were enjoying it as much as the fans were.
'Life Got Cold' saw the stage empty leaving the girls sitting on the stairs catching their breath. The slow pace didn't last long as they jumped into 'Wake Me Up' and the arena's roof was raised yet again. Other tracks performed included 'Biology', 'Whole Lotta History', 'Can't Speak French' and 'Love Machine'.
Next the girls took to the air on the giant letters and sung 'Sexy No No No' as they were elevated over to another stage waiting at the back of the arena. Nicola admitted to the crowd that this was the favourite part of the show as they got to see everyone at the back of the arena. The band then proceeded to perform a new 'Ten' track 'On The Metro', which had the crowd jumping at the sound of the new material. They also performed 'Call The Shots' and 'Untouchable' before racing off the small stage and back to the main stage.
'Something Kinda Ooh' was the next track as well as the girls' fourth costume change of the night. The girls asked everyone to hold up their phone or cameras to make the arena look "Beautiful", leading into the track of the same name.
'Something New' got one of the biggest cheers of the night. The girls even managed to get the crowd jumping with their version of Carly Rae Jepson's song 'Call Me Maybe'.
The girls took to the stage in red dresses while the chords of 'Stand By You' began. It was clear to see that each band member was emotional and a tweet sent by Nadine earlier in the week suddenly made sense. She hinted that the girls were drained from a very emotional part of the show. Throughout the song, a video played of everything the band had achieved in the past ten years and was emotional to say the least. Not even a quarter of the way through the track, Cheryl and Sarah were struggling to sing and visibly crying. The sell-out Geordie crowd immediately began singing back to them and by the end of the track the band were clearly touched by the reaction of the crowd.
The show ended with 'The Promise' with the crowd still singing along and dancing to every move.
Overall, the opening night was outstanding and proved that the chemistry is still there for 'The Leaders of The Pack'. No future plans have been confirmed by Girls Aloud, however, if the girls were to call it a day then they couldn't have asked for a better start to the tour.
Girls Aloud continue their current UK tour with another show in Newcastle tonight.
Fri February 22nd 2013 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne
Sat February 23rd 2013 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne
Mon February 25th 2013 - Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield
Tue February 26th 2013 - LG Arena, Birmingham
Wed February 27th 2013 - LG Arena, Birmingham
Fri March 1st 2013 - O2 Arena, London
Sat March 2nd 2013 - O2 Arena, London
Sun March 3rd 2013 - O2 Arena, London
Tue March 5th 2013 - Manchester Arena, Manchester
Wed March 6th 2013 - Manchester Arena, Manchester
Thu March 7th 2013 - Manchester Arena, Manchester
Sat March 9th 2013 - SECC, Glasgow
Sun March 10th 2013 - SECC, Glasgow
Mon March 11th 2013 - SECC, Glasgow
Wed March 13th 2013 - Odyssey Arena, Belfast
Thu March 14th 2013 - Odyssey Arena, Belfast
Sat March 16th 2013 - O2 Dublin, Dublin
Sun March 17th 2013 - O2 Dublin, Dublin
Tue March 19th 2013 - Capital FM Arena, Nottingham
Wed March 20th 2013 - Liverpool Echo Arena, Liverpool
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It's been three years since Cheryl, Kimberley, Sarah, Nicola and Nadine decided to take a break from the band to pursue solo projects. However, the minute the lights were dimmed and the curtains dropped, it was like the girls had never been away as Cheryl said it herself - they couldn't have kicked started the tour anywhere else but Newcastle.
